Category: Weekly Reports

Following a westerly blow on 23rd, the warm, dry weather continued throughout the week, the wind turning easterly for the last two days, as a high pressure system became established over north-west Europe, perhaps raising hopes for just that little bit extra as spring ebbs quickly away.

Last week’s Pink-footed Goose was still at Clifford Hill GP on 27th, as were single drake Garganeys at Stanwick GP from 26th to 28th, at Summer Leys LNR on 27th and 28th (with two there on the first of these dates) and at nearby Wellingborough Embankment, also on 28th. The long-staying drake Red-crested Pochard also continued its presence at Storton’s GP until at least 27th.

In an established week for historical rares, the hallowed 29th May (Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Sooty Tern, Bridled Tern, et al) produced nothing in commemoration this year. Nevertheless, there was a fine, summer-plumaged Black-necked Grebe on show at Summer Leys on 25th-26th – bird of the week for many.

Bitterns are now being seen with increasing frequency outside of the winter season, so one flying west at Stanwick, early on 25th, came as no real surprise. The same site continued to host a single Cattle Egret until at least 24th, while lingering late into the season were single Great Egrets at Stanford Res on 23rd and at both Stanwick and Thrapston GP on 28th.

There was also little change on the raptor front this week, with Ospreys at Thrapston on 25th, 27th and 28th, at Stanford on 26th and at Pitsford Res on 27th, while a male Marsh Harrier visited Harrington AF on 26th. Again, scarce gulls were at a premium, with just an adult Mediterranean Gull at Clifford Hill GP on 24th.

Passerines were thin on the ground and included an unseasonal male Stonechat at Clifford Hill GP on 29th. But on 26th, something was brewing in Wellingborough. A house roof, chimney pots, a small flock of Starlings – and a bi-coloured bird looking, well …. decidedly rosy. In the seconds it took to register, realise the potential and grab the camera, it had gone. The exasperation of the moment. The one that got away – an inevitable birding nemesis. A subsequent search of the area drew a blank but to set it in context, it’s not so unlikely. Late May and into June is a prime time for Rose-coloured Starling to occur in the UK and by strange coincidence, the last one in the county was photographed in a Wellingborough garden, almost to the day, on 25th May 2018, during that year’s influx. Said to be larger than that of 2018, another influx is currently underway in Europe, with reported flock sizes of twenty or more reaching Austria a week ago and ‘hundreds’ in France by 28th. With singles on Skomer and in gardens in Essex and West Sussex in the past two days, could this bird have been in the vanguard …?

A balmy south to south-westerly airstream, a hot, dry week with local temperatures peaking at 26°C … and the county’s tenth Red-footed Falcon. What’s not to like?

Almost as unseasonal as the weather, a Pink-footed Goose showed up at Clifford Hill GP on 21st, although May records are not without precedent. More in keeping with the middle of May, however, were single drake Garganeys at Stanwick GP on 16th and at Summer Leys LNR between 16th and 18th, while the long-staying drake Red-crested Pochard remained at Stortons GP throughout the period.

Following last week’s two, another wayward Cattle Egret was mobile around Earls Barton GP on 18th and again, may not have been one of our ‘locals’. Two which most certainly were, though, continued to be seen at Stanwick GP until at least 20th. Seemingly in no hurry to move on, two Great Egrets included singles still at Thrapston GP on 18th-22nd and at Summer Leys on 21st.

The ‘large raptor’ line-up during the period comprised an Osprey at Pitsford Res on 18th and two circling above the A5199 near Hollowell, two days later, on 20th, while single Marsh Harriers flew east over Spratton on 16th and over Summer Leys on 19th. But the early morning stars this week were at least two Common Cranes heard calling at in dawn’s early light, as they moved east of Irthlingborough, on 16th. With continued breeding in East Anglia and the growing population from the reintroduction scheme, The Great Crane Project, in southwest England, it is surprising we do not see more of this species locally.

On the wader front, the only truly ‘new’ visitors this week were two Whimbrels, which arrived at Boddington Res and then moved to the field opposite the car park there on the morning of 18th. Last week’s nominate race ‘Continental’ Black-tailed Godwit, stayed in the Wader Bay at Summer Leys until 17th and the Wood Sandpiper remained at Ecton SF until at least 16th.

Scarce gulls and terns were, unsurprisingly, in short supply at this late stage in the spring but Earls Barton GP mustered an adult Mediterranean Gull on 20th, while a Sandwich Tern spent all of five minutes prospecting Clifford Hill GP’s Main Barrage Lake, before quickly moving on, early on 21st.

Bird of the week, then? Or perhaps bird of the year, for some? That honour unquestionably fell to the first-summer male Red-footed Falcon which graced Ringstead GP’s Kinewell Lake for four days from 16th. This, the county’s tenth, put on a great display as it hawked low over the water, videoed shearing the surface by the finder, for the greater part of day one, after which it switched to a much higher aerial hunting mode. This bird was part of a handful of records in the UK at the time as the wider European breeding population returned from its African wintering grounds. Click on the map below to see both live and historical movements.

Out of a dearth of passerines emerged just one bird, a ‘Channel’ Wagtail at Boddington Res on 19th-21st. A welcome discovery during a spring in which Yellow Wagtails have been unusually scarce.

The easing of the government’s Coronavirus lockdown restrictions, with regard to travel and ‘exercise’ this week, has resulted in more observers taking to the field and wider local coverage. Birding – with care – is back on …

Mid-May is not a prime time for wildfowl but it’s a great period in which to find one of our most subtly attractive, alluring and scarcest of ducks: Garganey. A pair was found at Stanwick GP on 14th and two superb drakes were on show at Summer Leys LNR the following day. In a more suburban setting, a long-staying drake Red-crested Pochard remained at Stortons GP all week.

The first and so far, only, Quail of the spring was heard singing in a rape field adjacent to Little Morton Sale, east of Apethorpe, on 12th. Monkey business aside, this species was particularly hard to come by last year so, hopefully, there will be more as the spring progresses.

We return to the Nene Valley for an intriguing story of two smart-looking Cattle Egrets, which stayed for just one day at Summer Leys, on 10th. Given that our handful of now resident birds remain site-faithful to the Ditchford/Stanwick area and are not prone to going off-piste, these two gave rise to speculation that they could be ‘new’ birds. Sure enough, thanks to photography and the communication miracle that is social media, it transpired that these two had been making their way slowly north. First spotted at Lavell’s & Lea Farm Lakes NR, Berks, on 25th April, they then spent 6th-8th May at Simpson, Milton Keynes, before arriving at Summer Leys. Well, that’s the theory. At least two were still to be seen at Stanwick on 14th.

Great Egrets have thinned out appreciably since the last round-up and singles were seen at Summer Leys on 10th and 15th and at Pitsford Res on 12th.

And so to raptors … Just one Osprey was reported during the week, fishing at Elinor Trout Lake, Thrapston GP, on 10th, 12th and 13th. A Marsh Harrier flew over Summer Leys on 12th but by far and away the best bird of the week and surely one of the year’s best, too, ducked the Nene Valley action and appeared at Boddington Res on 11th – a superb female Montagu’s Harrier. Quartering fields in the vicinity of the dam, it was present for a good 15 minutes before eventually heading west toward the nearby Warwickshire border. The last one in the county was a male, apparently holding territory near Juniper Hill for two weeks, in May 2008. News of its presence was withheld by the finders at the time. But you have to go back 26 years for the last local twitchable one: a female in the Harrington AF area between 24th and 30th May 1994. There have now been 17 in the county, the first way back in August 1894.

By this time in spring, numbers of passage waders have usually dwindled but a few quality species normally find their way to the county during May. One such bird was at Summer Leys between 13th and 15th. Colloquially known as ‘Continental’ Black-tailed Godwit, this lingering individual was a classic example of limosa, the race breeding in mainland Europe and in very small numbers in the UK, most of the latter being colour-ringed through Project Godwit. Its current status in Northants can only be described as ‘rare’, as just about every Black-tailed Godwit passing through the county – often in flocks – is of the Icelandic race islandica.

Other waders this week included single Whimbrels over Braunston Flood on 11th and at Stanwick GP on 15th, the spring’s sole Sanderling at Clifford Hill GP on 10th and single Wood Sandpipers at Summer Leys LNR on 9th and Ecton SF on 14th. The latter site also produced a Greenshank on these two dates.

One species failing to materialise in any numbers this spring is Black Tern. One was viewed distantly, in windy conditions, off the dam at Hollowell Res on 10th, the same date on which a first-summer Little Gull appeared at Clifford Hill GP.

Although neither scarce nor rare, Hobbies were seen at multiple locations throughout the week but fourteen at Thrapston GP on 15th is noteworthy.

A paucity of passerines resulted in just one Northern Wheatear, near Cransley, on 11th and a White Wagtail at Clifford Hill GP on 10th.

Next week will be exciting …

With few left to arrive, only two more spring migrants have turned up over the past week – one of these just a little bit special …

 
Spotted Flycatcher
The first Spotted Flycatcher to be seen this spring was at Bradlaugh Fields, Northampton on 6th May. Hot on its heels, two more were then found between Byfield and Boddington on 7th. A shade earlier than last year’s first, which was on 10th May – and nowhere near the earliest, the records being held by one at Duston, Northampton on 20th April 1971 and two at Thrapston GP on the same April date in 1976.

Since those days in the 1970s, Spotted Flycatcher has declined in the county (see here) and according to BirdLife International, its population is declining in north and central Europe as a result of habitat conversion, cooler summers and decreasing insect populations caused by pollution and insecticides. In Europe, trends between 1980 and 2013 show that populations have undergone a moderate decline.

The numbers of Northamptonshire localities this species was recorded at over the last five years are: 2015 (49), 2016 (27), 2017 (47), 2018 (35) and 2019 (40).

Nightjar
There is a remarkable number of instances of migrant Nightjars found roosting along the tops of garden fences. On 5th May, such was the case for one lucky observer in a garden backing onto Overstone Wood in Sywell. This one flew in and alighted before flying off after a minute or so. Prior to this, there have been only twelve previous records in the county this century, the last being in August 2016. These have included some oddball individuals, such as the male churring at the end of a Corby garden from 25th to 28th June 2002 and one on Brackmills Industrial Estate, Northampton on 10th September 2014.

The local status of Nightjar is currently unknown. This species bred in the county until the 1980s but labelling it a former breeder may be quite wrong because of its nocturnal and secretive nature. Considering Nightjar has shown marked improvements in population status, attributed largely to sustainable forest management and targeted conservation action, as well as having moved from the Red to the Amber list (BTO), how many are we missing? But then how many local birders venture out to large, isolated woodland clearings at night …?

This week’s summary of summer visitors arriving in the county.

With most of our summer visitors now in, from the handful left to arrive, three more spring migrants have turned up over the past week.

Although the earliest ever was on 5th April 1985, the first Turtle Dove on 25th is by no means late, considering it was found at only five localities in 2019 and its UK population has undergone a 93% decrease since 1994 (BTO). In that year, it was recorded from 23 localities and the first recorded arrival was on 24th April.

While both Wood Sandpiper and Little Tern are summer visitors to the UK, they are only passage migrants in Northants and their arrival dates this year are unremarkable.

As always, an expanded list of general migrant arrival and departure dates, including historical extremes, can be found in the annually published Northamptonshire Bird Report.

Avian images used in map pins courtesy of RSPB

This week’s summary of summer visitors arriving in the county.

 

Five more spring migrants have arrived during the past seven days. This week’s quintet includes two species which, arguably, are not 100% summer visitors, as both Whimbrel and Spotted Redshank winter regularly in the UK. However, unlike Chiffchaff and Blackcap, for example, their wintering populations are tiny by comparison, with totals of perhaps only 20-30 Whimbrels and 90-100 Spotted Redshanks found principally, although not exclusively, in south coast locations (BTO, RSPB.1, RSPB.2). The arrival dates for these two species are unremarkable, the date for Whimbrel being fairly typical (19th April 2018, 17th April 2019), while Spotted Redshanks are rarer in spring than autumn and often they don’t appear before July.

Arctic Tern this year arrived nine days later than in both 2018 and 2019 and while not being unduly late, Black Terns arrived eleven days later than the earliest ever (7th April in 2019) and one day earlier than in 2018.

The first Common Swift this year, while being a shade on the early side (22nd April in 2018, 25th April in 2019) would have to go a long way, by being a full fifteen days earlier, to beat the earliest ever, on 5th April 1985.

With still more to come, an expanded list of general migrant arrival and departure dates, including historical extremes, can be found in the annually published Northamptonshire Bird Report.

Avian images used in map pins courtesy of RSPB

 

Six of the best – and another record-breaker in this week’s look at summer visitors arriving in the county.

Following last week’s review of this year’s summer visitor arrival dates so far, another six are now in, including the earliest-ever Lesser Whitethroat on 10th April. This species appears to have enjoyed a fairly consistent run of early arrival dates in recent years, with the previous earliest on 12th April in 1981, 2014, 2016 and 2017. Last year’s first was found on 17th April – a full week later than this year’s.

Coming close, in second place, is Whinchat on 16th April, which is only one day behind the previous earliest in 1984 and 2015. Beyond this, the Nightingale is four days earlier than last year’s, the Reed Warbler was found on the same date as last year’s first and the Hobby is six days earlier than the first one to be seen last year but probably more in line with the ‘average’ arrival date for this species.

This leaves Tree Pipit. It’s a difficult one to draw comparisons in arrival dates between this year and previous years because of the population decline it has undergone, especially in central and southern England, over the past twenty-five years. Red-listed in the UK as a species of critical concern, in our county it is now a scarce passage migrant. In 2012, for the first time ever, there were no spring records.

More to come. As always, an expanded list of general migrant arrival and departure dates, including historical extremes, is published annually in the Northamptonshire Bird Report.

Avian images used in map pins courtesy of RSPB

The first twenty are in! But how do this year’s arrival dates compare with those of previous years?

A review of how spring is progressing, in terms of the arrival of summer visitors, covers the five weeks up to 9th April. Two species, Blackcap and Chiffchaff, are excluded as both have significant wintering populations that cloud the arrival dates of those wintering outside of the UK.

This year, one species sets a new record for the earliest ever arrival date. The Garden Warbler at Boddington Reservoir on 7th beats the previous earliest, which was in 2010, by three days. This year’s Common Whitethroat and Willow Warbler are relatively early for the county, being only three days and seven days later than the earliest, in 1998 and 1997, respectively. No other species produced noteworthy arrival dates, especially when population dynamics are taken into consideration.

With another fifteen species to arrive over the next five weeks or so it will be interesting to see if they are on time, early, or late. An expanded list of general migrant arrival and departure dates, including historical extremes, is published annually in the Northamptonshire Bird Report.

Avian images used in map pins courtesy of RSPB

Sunshine and south-easterlies. With some rather nice weather conditions, conducive to migration, things took a turn for the worse halfway through the period as the coronavirus lockdown situation ensued, putting paid to most birders’ activities.

Hanging on in there until 22nd was Clifford Hill GP’s first-summer Dark-bellied Brent Goose, while Stanford Res’ nine Pink-footed Geese again entered Northamptonshire airspace briefly on 21st and 23rd. Back at Clifford Hill, the two drake Greater Scaups were still present on 23rd – at least one of which remained on 27th and the adult female was back at Stanwick GP on 22nd.

Clifford Hill also hung on to its two summer-plumaged Black-necked Grebes until at least 21st and on the same date, a Bittern was discovered at Stanford Res before quickly flying off into Leicestershire. Apart from two at Stanwick on 22nd, single Great Egrets were still to be found at Ditchford GP, Kislingbury GP, Pitsford Res, Stanford on Avon, Summer Leys LNR and Thrapston GP

The year’s second Osprey was picked up heading over Bulwick on 21st and, for the second consecutive week, Avocets were again seen in the Nene Valley, when two were found at Irthlingborough Lakes & Meadows LNR on 26th. Initially present on Dragonfly Lake, they moved to Townholme Meadow, where they were visible from a bedroom window in Irthlingborough – now there’s lockdown birding for you! They were still present the next day. Other notable passage waders included a Black-tailed Godwit at the same locality, a Knot at Clifford Hill GP on 22nd and a Ruff for a short time at Summer Leys the following day, while a Jack Snipe was at Boddington Res on 26th.

More Mediterranean Gulls this week were two adults on Mary’s Lake, Earls Barton GP on 25th but that was about it as far as gulls were concerned. Single Short-eared Owls were still in evidence at Borough Hill on 21st and near Stanford Res on 21st-23rd, while a Merlin flew north over Chipping Warden, early in the morning of 21st.

Bird of the week without a doubt, though, was a Hooded Crow seen in fields east of the track down to Elinor Trout Lake at Thrapston GP on the afternoon of 23rd. It didn’t linger, as is typical of local occurrences of this species and if accepted, it will be only the third in the county this century, the previous two being flyover singles at Alderton on 7th November 2018 and at Summer Leys on 28th March 2019.

Another ‘first’ for the year this week was a singing male Willow Warbler at Stortons GP on 22nd but it was ‘outsung’ by a something smaller, with more pulling power – a male Firecrest at Ravensthorpe Res on 21st, which delighted all who turned up to admire it, pre-lockdown, on 22nd.

Meanwhile, following last week’s first, Northern Wheatears continued to pass through in small numbers with singles at both Borough Hill and Stanford Res on 21st, Clifford Hill GP on 21st-22nd and Wollaston STW on 23rd.

This is likely to be the last weekly report for some time – for obvious reasons – but for anyone able to travel safely, within government ruling, to local sites then please continue to share records.

A mild, south-westerly airstream ensured temperatures touched the higher side of seasonal average throughout the most part of the week, providing a much-needed boost for spring migrants. And it happened – migration with a capital ‘M’ – the county seeing the arrival of a decent number of ‘firsts’ for the year.

One of these, a Dark-bellied Brent Goose, was found at Clifford Hill GP on 17th, remaining there until the week’s end, while there was a surprising re-emergence, on 15th, of the nine Pink-footed Geese originally found at Stanford Res on 8th February but absent from there since 18th of the same month. Clearly they had been lurking undetected, somewhere in the vicinity and they were still present in the area on 19th.

More long-stayers included the two drake Greater Scaups at Clifford Hill GP all week, while the adult female left Stanwick GP and returned to adjacent Irthlingborough Lakes & Meadows LNR, where it was still present on 18th.

Staying with the Nene Valley, two summer-plumaged Black-necked Grebes were found on the Main Barrage Lake at Clifford Hill GP as the week drew to a close on the afternoon of 20th.

Some distance further downriver, the Stanwick Cattle Egrets went back to playing hard to get, with just two on show early in the day on 15th. Unsurprisingly, the opposite was true when it came to the distribution of Great Egrets, which were present at seven localities, Thrapston GP once again hosting the week’s maximum of four, also on 15th.

The same site packed a punch on 18th, when it delivered the year’s first Osprey, eying up Elinor Trout Lake from a strategically located pylon.

Wader passage picked up from the very start of the period, commencing with an Avocet at Boddington Res on 14th and five more during the day at Summer Leys LNR. Together, they formed part of a wider overland movement involving birds in Buckinghamshire, Leicestershire, London, Oxfordshire and Staffordshire on the same date. More will surely follow as spring advances.

Summer Leys was also responsible for producing another ‘first’ for the year in the shape of a Little Ringed Plover on 19th and the same site also held on to a Knot from 16th until 19th, the same individual no doubt having been seen flying southwest from Stanwick on 15th. Remarkably, the Knot total swelled to five at Summer Leys, albeit briefly, on 18th.

The same reserve pulled in seven Black-tailed Godwits early in the day on 20th. Rounding off the wader tally were four Jack Snipes still at Hollowell Res on 14th and an amazing total of nine together in one small flooded area behind the dam at Daventry CP on 18th – surely a record count for this species at the site.

After a dismal absence of gulls last week, evidence that Mediterranean Gull passage was underway appeared in the form of an adult at Stanwick on 16th, a first-winter at Daventry CP on 19th and one at Summer Leys the following day. Hollowell produced a first-winter Caspian Gull on 14th, while twos of Yellow-legged Gulls were logged at Summer Leys on 14th and Daventry CP on 18th.

Merlins were also on the move, the week producing singles at Stanford Res and over the feeding station at Summer Leys – both on 20th, while Stanford was also the venue for the appearance of the year’s first Swallow, over the dam there, on 19th. Despite the obvious feeling of spring in the air, the wintering Siberian Chiffchaff along the outflow stream at Ecton SF was still in situ on 19th and, with British winterers sometimes staying into April, it may yet stick around for another week or two. The same may not be said for Stonechats, though. After being recorded at seven localities last week, there was only one report of three at Clifford Hill GP during the period, this site also producing a rather mobile and elusive male Black Redstart on 17th. But arguably, the most attractive and, therefore, popular harbinger of spring – Northern Wheatear – made its 2020 debut this week, on 16th, when one was trapped and ringed at Brixworth STW. Its appearance coincided with a large fall involving hundreds on the south coast, with Dorset, for example, logging more than two hundred and thirty on the same date. Others quickly followed, including singles at Upton CP (Northampton) on 18th, Summer Leys on 19th-20th and at Harrington AF, Hartwell and Maidwell – all on 20th. Surprisingly, none was photographed …